Oscar honors Steve Martin

"Let's Get Small"

The comedian-actor-writer-musician Steve Martin, who has starred in such timeless comedies as "The Jerk," "All of Me," "Little Shop of Horrors," and "Planes, Trains and Automobiles," will be honored with a lifetime achievement Oscar from the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences, at the 5th annual Governors Awards, on Saturday, Nov. 16, 2013.

By CBSNews.com senior producer David Morgan

Credit: Warner Records

Happy Feet

Born in Waco, Texas, and raised in California, Steve Martin started as a writer for television, winning an Emmy Award for "The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour." He was also nominated for "The Sonny and Cher Comedy Hour" and "Van Dyke and Company."

Martin's standup act - sly and silly routines, laced with slapstick, that
were self-mocking, ironic and absurd - was a break with the tradition of telling jokes. He created a character who seemed a bit out-of-control.

"I was studying philosophy in college, and philosophy taught me, 'Question everything,'" he told correspondent Rita Braver in 2007. "And so I just turned it on my act. And I thought that, 'Well, the audience, they're sitting there waiting for these punchlines. And then a punchline comes and they go, Ha, ha, ha, nut, it's not really real.' They're kind of being told when to laugh. And I thought, 'What if I never indicated to them where to laugh?' Then they would sit there for a while. And pretty soon they would -- I hoped -- find their own place to laugh. And then they would be laughing for real."

Left: Martin gets "happy feet" on "The Tonight Show.

Credit: Shout Factory

A Wild and Crazy Guy

Some of his most popular routines involved things he'd picked up working as a youngster at the Disneyland Magic Shop, like the arrow through the head, the bunny ears and even his balloon animals.

"I was looking for absurd things for my act and I went back to those early props," Martin said. "And I thought they're so stupid that I wanted to use them in some ironic way."

Martin's act was all about irony; for example, his "Wild and Crazy Guy." As his popularity started to build, he noticed that people were coming to his shows wearing arrows through their heads or with balloon animals.

"And I thought, 'That's odd,'" Martin said.

Credit: Shout Factory

SNL

In 1976 he was invited to host a new show called "Saturday Night Live." "It was just such an exciting period where you're just charged up to be funny and the audience was so ready for you to be funny," Martin said. "It was a fabulous time."

Among Martin's memorable characters from his many guest appearances on "SNL" was his portrayal, with Dan Aykroyd, of "two wild and crazy guys" (left, in 1978).

Credit: NBC/Broadway Video

"The Muppet Show"

Steve Martin brought his banjo-playing talents to "The Muppet Show," and was later one of the numerous stars making cameo appearances in 1979's "The Muppet Movie."

Credit: ITC Entertainment

King Tut

Martin was playing to huge crowds. He even had a hit song, "King Tut" (left).

"Well, it felt very satisfying. I knew this was a rare thing to happen to anybody, to sort of burst on a comedy scene. I was also worried about the future," he told Braver. "I knew I had become this thing and I knew that it's eventually something I have to break out of."

Credit: Shout Factory

"The Jerk"

Steve Martin's first starring film role was in the Carl Reiner comedy, "The Jerk" (1979), a rags-to-riches-to-rags story about a man born "a poor black child." His first great claim to fame: Having his name published in the phone book.

Credit: Universal Pictures

"Pennies From Heaven"

Steve Martin starred in the big-screen version of Dennis Potter's "Pennies From Heaven," in which a Depression-Era music salesman's dreams transport him to a world inspired by Hollywood musicals.

Credit: Universal Pictures

"Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid"

In "Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid" (1982), a pastiche intercutting Martin with clips from old Hollywood film noirs, Martin took on several guises, including Barbara Stanwyck.

Credit: Universal Pictures

"The Man with Two Brains"

Steve Martin takes his passions a little too far in "The Man with Two Brains" (1983).

Credit: Warner Brothers

"All of Me"

Steve Martin won the New York Film Critics Circle and National Society of Film Critics' awards for Best Actor for his slapstick performance in "All of Me" (1984), in which his body is invaded by the spirit of Lily Tomlin (who can only be glimpsed in mirrors).

Credit: Universal Pictures

"The Lonely Guy"

My, he is lonely. Steve Martin starred in "The Lonely Guy" (1984), an adaptation of Bruce Jay Friedman's "The Lonely Guy's Book of Life."

Credit: Universal Pictures

"Little Shop of Horrors"

Martin made a huge impact as the sadistic dentist in the musical "Little Shop of Horrors" (1986).

Credit: Warner Brothers

"Three Amigos"

Chevy Chase, Steve Martin and Martin Short starred in "Three Amigos" (1986), in which a trio of silent-era movie actors is mistaken for big-screen heroes by Mexican villagers desperate for protection from bandits.

Credit: Orion Pictures

"Planes, Trains and Automobiles"

"Those aren't pillows!" Martin gets uncomfortably close to John Candy in "Planes, Trains and Automobiles" (1987).

Credit: Paramount Pictures

"Roxanne"

Steve Martin won the Writers Guild of America's award for Best Adapted Screenplay for "Roxanne" (1987), an updated telling of "Cyrano de Bergerac," with Martin in the role of the romantic with a prominent honker. Daryl Hannah played the object of his affection.

Credit: Columbia Pictures

"Dirty Rotten Scoundrels"

Michael Caine and Steve Martin play con men on the French Riviera in the comedy "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" (1988), from "Little Shop of Horrors" director Frank Oz.

Credit: Orion Pictures

"Parenthood"

Steve Martin played a neurotic executive unable to cope with the pressures of "Parenthood," in the 1989 comedy directed by Ron Howard.

Credit: Universal Pictures

"My Blue Heaven"

Steve Martin is definitely a fish out of water, as a former mobster in the witness protection program, hiding out in plain sight in the 'burbs, in "My Blue Heaven" (1990).

In a weird bit of synchronicity, "My Blue Heaven" was written by Nora Ephron, who was married to Nicholas Pileggi, author of the book on which Martin Scorsese's "GoodFellas" was based. That film, of a mobster who flees into the witness protection program, was also released by Warner Brothers that same year.

Credit: Warner Brothers

"L.A. Story"

Steve Martin wrote and starred in "L.A. Story" (1991), an ensemble romantic comedy in which Martin's TV weatherman takes an unusual mode of transport through the Los Angeles County Museum of Art.

Credit: TriStar Pictures

"Father of the Bride"

Diane Keaton and Steve Martin were parents experiencing the pain and agony of wedding planners and other nuptial horror tales, in the 1991 comedy "Father of the Bride."

"The Spanish Prisoner"

In a departure for Martin, in 1997 he played a wealthy businessman who may not be what he seems, in David Mamet's thriller, "The Spanish Prisoner."

Credit: Sony Pictures Classics

"The Out-of-Towners"

After co-starring in the comedy "Housesitter," Goldie Hawn and Steve Martin teamed up in the 1999 remake of the Neil Simon comedy, "The Out-of-Towners," as tourists way out of their depth in New York City.

Credit: Paramount Pictures

"Bowfinger"

Steve Martin played a lowest-of-the-low-budget film producer who tries to film scenes with action star Eddie Murphy (whom he can't possibly afford) on the sly in the comedy "Bowfinger" (1999).

Credit: Universal Pictures

"Novocaine"

In the very black comedy "Novocaine" (2001), Steve Martin played a dentist whose forged prescription for painkillers to a very unstable woman leads from root canals to murder. Laura Dern co-starred.

Credit: Artisan Entertainment

"Looney Tunes: Back in Action"

Martin played a villain intent on defeating cartoon characters in "Looney Tunes: Back in Action" (2003).

Credit: Warner Brothers

"The Late Show"

Actor Steve Martin feigns sleep after asking "Late Show" host David Letterman to tell him about his new baby during a taping in New York on Monday, Dec. 22, 2003.

Credit: AP/CBS

"Shopgirl"

Martin romances Claire Danes in "Shopgirl" (2005), based on his novella.

Credit: Touchstone Pictures

"Shopgirl"

Actor, writer and producer Steve Martin and actress Claire Danes pose for photographers at a special screening of "Shopgirl," in New York, Oct. 17, 2005. The film is based on Martin's bestselling novella.

Credit: AP Photo/Stuart Ramson

Mark Twain Prize

Actor Steve Martin tapes his placeholder to his chest and accepts a congratulatory round of applause from his box at the Kennedy Center Concert Hall, prior to being honored with the Kennedy Center's eight annual Mark Twain Prize for American Humor, October 23, 2005 in Washington, D.C.